Amar Singh's Batla House trips don't bring results

ET Bureau|

Dec 09, 2008, 04.45 AM IST

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The attempts from friendly parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party, to strike at the Muslim support base of the Congress have not succeeded. The election outcome clearly shows the Congress held on to its minority base in Delhi in spite of the repeated attempts to paint it as being anti-minority.

The Delhi outcome must be a lesson for the SP, which has been projecting itself as the biggest champion of the minority. After the Batla House encounter, SP general secretary Amar Singh has been visiting Okhla at regular intervals to drive home his party���s point that Muslims should not trust the Congress. In the Okhla seat, which the Congress won, the SP was relegated to the fourth position.

The victory for the Congress will considerably reduce the premium for argument within the party that the government���s reluctance to order a judicial probe into the Batla House incident is angering the minority community. The section within the party, which does not buy this argument, can credibly claim that minority community will not be swayed by hardline opinions.

The SP, which had fielded its candidates in the 11 minority community-dominated pockets, could not succeed in hurting the Congress. In a majority of these seats���Seelampur, Ballimaran, Chandni Chowk, Mustafabad and Sadar Bazar to name a few���the Congress won comfortably. In each of these constituencies, the community has a strong presence, enough to influence the final verdict. This outcome has exposed the hollowness of the SP���s claim that it was the first political choice of the minority community even outside Uttar Pradesh.

The post-26/11 scenario across the country, which saw community members coming out strongly against terrorism, also, it���d appear, helped the Congress in enlisting their support. Rather than wasting their votes by backing other ���secular��� players, the Muslims thought it prudent to rally behind the principal ruling party at the Centre.

The government at the Centre will now be expected to deal with such demands from friendly quarters with a firm hand. In the other states too, the members of the minority community spurned overtures from parties such as the SP and the BSP to rally behind the Congress.

With the winter session of Parliament commencing two days later, an emboldened Congress is certain to fend off such hardline demands from the SP and the Left-TDP combine. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has already rejected demands for a judicial probe into the Batla House encounter. He���d be expected to do it again confidently.